10/09/09
Hawkins Construction has an interesting problem: they want to find the best talent possible, provide them years of training, growth, and personal development, and allow them to thrive personally and financially in a company with a strong culture. So, what’s the problem you ask?
Chris Hawkins, 4th generation owner/leader explains. “We have a very distinct culture and high expectations around doing things the Hawkins way. We want to find those diamonds in the rough who have little or no experience, but will follow our training regimen and remain loyal to the company, and who have the capacity to be a serious construction leader in 10 years. This is an expensive training and time proposition, and getting it right by predicting a potential employee’s performance over the next decade can be tough”.
Hawkins has been in business for about 90 years and is currently being run by 3rd and 4th generation family leaders. Their current gross revenues are now in excess of $200 million annually. They recruit nationally through engineering and construction management programs, bring college juniors and seniors on for summer internships, expect them to come on board full-time after graduation, and then ratchet up the experiences and responsibilities for the next 7-10 years. With that type of commitment on the line, it is imperative not only to find people who can rise through the ranks, but also who will stick it out and thrive in the Hawkins culture.
Carr Assessments used its value-added assessment processes to create a focused assessment battery and a custom report that provides Hawkins information concerning not only whether the summer interns have the capacity to perform in the current role, but what their capacities will be (and how best to develop them) in the Project Manager and then Superintendent roles. For those interns they hire, Hawkins then generates a report that provides prescriptive training and development tips for the new hire’s manager so the manager will know exactly how to manage the employee and set the employee up for a lifetime of success.
Chris, who is in charge of overseeing these employee’s growth and development has found the Carr Assessments process to be invaluable. “Our capital investment in the Carr system was exactly as advertised and the results have been dead on. We are getting at least a 10x return on our investment in the predictive information we obtain through Carr”.
